Machine for cracking nuts.



G. G. SIEBERT & A. GERSTMAYR.

MACHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS.

APPLICATION FILED D20. 26, 1911.

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MACHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS. APPLICATION FILED DEO.26,1911.

1,062,742. Patented May 27, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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G. G. SIEBERT & A. GERSTMAYR.

MACHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 26, 1911.

1,062,742. Patented May 27, 1913 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

G. C. SIEBERT & A. 'GERSTMAYR. MACHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS. APPLICATIONFILED DEC. 26, 1911.

Patented May 27, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET A.

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Inventors: QGEQBGJELSQBEWEZLE -ZTQALQ' 4/ 4- specification,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. SIEIBERT AND ANTON GERSTMAYR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID IGERSTMAYR ASSIGNOR TO SAID SIEBERT.

MACHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Gnonon C. SIEBERT and ANTON GERSTMAYR, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Chicago, in Cook county, State ofIllinois, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Cracking Nuts; and we do hereby declare that the followingdescription of our said invention, taken in connection with theaccompanying sheets of drawings, forms a full, dear, and exact whichwill enable others skilled in the art to which "our said inventionappertains to make and use the same.

This invention has general reference to nut-cracking machines; and itconsists, essentially, in the novel and peculiar combination of partsand details of construction, as hereinafter first fully set forth anddescribed, and then pointed outin the claims.

The object of this invention is the production of an efiicient,serviceable. durable, and very effective machine for cracking all kindsof vegetable nuts; which will automatically adjust itself to all sizesof such nuts, and crack them with a degree of uniformity which has notheretofore been successfully accomplished.

In the drawings already referred to, which illustrate the preferredembodiment of our invention, and which serve to fully disclose ourinvention, Figure l is a side elevation of this nut-cracking machine.Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the connecting rod whichoperates the feed-belt actuating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a fragmentalelevation of a portion of the feed wheel, the Geneva-gear mechanism,

view of a portion of the Geneva-gear wheel and the pinion that rotatesthe same intermittently. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the completemachine. Fig. 6 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of the same on thein-' direct line 66 of Fig. 5, a portion of the conveyer-trough beingbroken away. Fig. 7

is a plan of the machine. Fig. 8 is a plan,

partly in section, of the mechanism that contains the cracking rams, thesection be-. ing taken on line 8-8. of Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a, sectionalview on lin-e'9-9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is anend elevation of the slidecontaining the crackin rams. Fig.-11 isan elevation of the slidlng bardetached, the figure being drawn on an increased scale and and thoseparts immediately connectedtherewith. Fig. 4 is a .der side of thetabletop partly broken for lack of space. Fig.' 12 is a plan, partly insection on line 55 of Fig. 13, ofthe abutment plungers and the rack andpinion mechanism connected therewith, the table top of the machine beingomitted to disclose the underlying parts. Fig. 13 is a sectionalelevation of the same Patented May 27, 1913.

on line H of Fig. l2 Fig. 14 is an end elevation of a portion of thetable top, the sliding bar, the dog, and the racks that operate thegearing shown in Fig. 13.

Like parts are designated by the same characters and symbols ofreference in all the various figures; This machine comprises a table top12, mounted on suitable standards or legs 13. From this table top dependtwo brackets 14, having bearings at their lower ends to receive a shaft15, upon which is fixedly mounted a feed wheel A; and attached to thisfeed wheel and concentric therewith, there is secured a so-called Genevagear wheel B, which latter gear wheel is smaller in .diameter than thefeed wheel so that; the latter wheel will move at its periphery throughtwice the distance of the former wheel.

The feed wheel A has in its face or outer periphery of its rim a seriesof approximately semi-circular depressions or pockets 16, which aresuiiiciently large to accommodate nuts of all kinds. This feed wheelisoperated by the one-cog pinion 17 of the Geneva gearing engaging thenotches in the said gear wheel, to rotate the latter gear wheel onenotch for everyrevolution of said pinion. This pinion 17 is secured to ashaft 18, journaled in a bearing 20, formed on a bracket 19, secured tothe un- 12, as best shown in Fig. 3; and which holds the Geneva gearwheel rigidly except when the cog on the pinion engages one of thenotches in the wheel B, as already described, to produce thestep-by-step movement peculiar to the Geneva gearing.

The feed wheel A presents the nuts located in the depressions 16.thereofto the cracking mechanism comprising the following mechanism: Upon thetable top 12, at one side of the projecting portion of the feed wheel Athere is secured a preferably rectangular block 21, which is boredlongitudinally to receive one or more abutment .plungers 22, whichplungers are spaced to 'and 9, which rams are spaces to coincide withthe spacing of the abutment plungers 22; and they are so located thattheir axial lines aline with those of the latter lungers.

Upon the table top and surroun ing that part of the feed wheel thatprotrudes the same, there is a casing 26, having a glass or othertransparent cover 27, to enable the action of the nut cracking mechanismbeing observed, the longitudinal walls of said. casing being perforatedto permit the abutment plungers and the cracking rams to enter the spacein said casing.

The mechanism for reciprocating the sliding member 23, and also forother mechanisms hereinafter to be referred to, comprises the followingelements: At the back of, and below the table top 12, there are locatedtwo back bearings 28, Fig. 7, wherein is journaled a main driving shaftC, receiving its rotative motion from any desired source, not shown, bya pulley D. Upon the table top, and at one margin thereof, there arefurther bearings 29 wherein is journaled a counter shaft E, parallel tothe shaft 0, and from which it receives its ro-v tary motion through theintervention" of a gear pinion 30, secured to the main shaft and a spurgear wheel 31, fastened upon one end of sa1d counter shaft E. Upon thecounter shaft E there are located, preferably two cams 32; and to theslide 23 there are secured two rods 33, having double eyes 34, whereinare journaled anti-friction rollers 35, which rollers are. engaged bysaid cams and move the slide 23 by a step-by-step movement in onedirection,- said slide being retracted by a rod 36, having a hook 37,engaged by a wrist pin 38, located between the cams 32, said rod 36being secured to the under side-of the slide 23.

.The mechanism for operating the abut-- ment plungers 22- include thefollowing elements: At one end of the table top 12 there are locatedbearings 39, wherein is journaled a transverse shaft F, which carries atone end a bevel gear wheel 40; and at the end of the counter shaft Cadjacent to the bevel gear wheel 40 and meshing therewith, there is acorresponding bevel gear wheel 41. On the shaft F there is mounted acrank disk 42, having a roller pitman 43, said shaft F receiving rotarymotion from the counter shaft E.

Underneath the table top 12 there are provided suitable guides 44, inwhich there is movably arranged a sliding bar 45, the outer end of whichis bent at right angles to afford a hook 46, there being adjacent tothis hook a strike-plate 47, movably heldto the hooks 56, to which oneend of the springs 57 is hitched, the other ends of said springs beingsecured to attaching devices, such as shown at 58 in Fig. 13. Thesesprings in their normal condition are under tension or expanded, andthey function in a manner hereafter to be explained.

At the end opposite that having the hook 46, the sliding bar 45 has alaterally extending bar 59, which engages the base-plates 59 of thehooks 57 on the racks, to pull the racks in onedirection. These racksengage pinions 60, 61, which pinions are secured to shafts 62, 63,having suitable bearing in the fixed block 21, as clearly shown in Fig.12.

,Upon these shafts there are also secured spur-gears 64, 65, which, inturn, engage pinions 66, 67, mounted upon screw-shafts 68, 69, which arealso journaled in bearings 'in said fixed block 21. These screw-shaftsnuts wherewith the externally screw-thread ed portions 70, 71, engage sothat when saidshafts 66, 67 are rotated in one direction the.

plungers 22 will move outwardly in the block 21, and when rotated in theopposite direction, said plungers will be retracted, the latter positionbeing the normal one and illustrated in Fig. 12, said plungers beingprevented from rotation by any desired means, not shown. At the side ofthe sliding bar 45 there is a roove or channel 72, in the guide 44,whereln is located a'dog 73, pivoted in said guide by a pivot 74, saiddog having a laterally extending catch 75, constructed to engage'a notch76 in the sliding bar 45, to retain the latter in its normal posit-ion.Upon the periphery of the crank disk 42, there is a protuberance 7 6,shown in Fig. 13, which protuberance when reaching the tail 77 of thedog 73 will depress sald tail and thereby lift the catch 75 out of thenotch 7 6 in the sliding bar 45, to

release the latter bar.

sliding bar 45' is released these springs will ing rams, there are nutsto be cracked, it

follows that the springs 57 will pull the racks until the abutmentplungers bear upon said nuts, and that if one nut is longer than theother, the rack governing the plunger actin upon that particular nutwill not trave as far as the other rack which latter rack will then pullthe sliding bar along until the corresponding plunger comes to a stopagainst the shorter nut. As soon as the cracking rams have advanced andcracked the two nuts in the peripheral depressions of the feed wheel,the wrist pin 43 of the crank disk 42 reaches the plate 47 and actingthereupon, will pull the rod 45, and with it, the two racks and theabutment plungers and the cracking rams back to their normal position,the catch on said dog will engage the notch in said sliding bar and holdthe same innormal position.

- We shall now describe the action of the cracking rams 25, thatcooperate with the abutment plungers to crack the nuts placed betweenthem: The counter shaft E being rotated, the cams 32 thereon advance thesliding block 23, the portions of the cams embraced between the pointsab, performing this function, and then come to rest for a short space oftime as the cams rotate from the points 6 to the points 0. Then theportions of the cams between the points -c-(Z, will further advance thesliding block 23 (and the cracking rams) which advance performs thecracking operation and is at all times uniform in the distance moved,after which the crank roller 38 acting upon the curved portion of thebar 36 will retract the sliding block 23 to its normal position. Thetiming of these various movements is as follows: First the feed wheelrotates a distance equal to two depressions in the-periphery thereof andleaves the same in position for the cracking rams to enter thesedepressions which takes place as soon as the feed wheel stops, saidcracking rams making their first advance and come to rest a shortdistance within the casing 26. At this moment the protuberance 76" onthe crank disk 42 reaches the tail 77 of the dog 73 and trips the samethereby releasing the'sliding bar 45 and with it the racks and move theabutment plungers in position as already described. Immediately afterthese plungers have come to rest and have clamped the nuts between themand the cracking rams,

the latter will make their final advance and thereby crush or break the;shells of said cured at one end to nuts, the cracking rams and theabutment plungers will now retract in unison, and these cycles will berepeated as long as the machine is being kept supplied with nuts andthe'moving parts kept in motion.

The nuts to be cracked are placed in a trough attached to themachine'and supported thereon by bars 78. This trough includes twoinclined members G, G, having downwardly extending skirts 79, 79, inspaced parallel relation. Between these skirts there is'located aconveyer belt H, which is trained over pulleys or drums 81,

, 82, the former being at the rear end of the trough and the latter atthe forward end thereof. The pulley 81 has a shaft rotating in bearings83 extending from the rear end of the skirts, while the pulley 82 ismounted on a shaft 84, journaled near one end in a bearing 85,projecting from one of the legs 13. At this end of the shaft 84 there issecured a ratchet wheel 86, and adjacent to this ratchet wheel there ismounted upon said shaft a rocking arm 87, carrying a pivoted dog 88which engages the teeth in said ratchet wheel 86 and moves the same inone "direction. This rocking arm 87 is operated by a crank disk 88,fastened at the forward end of the transverse shaft F and connected tosaid rocking arm by a connecting rod 89. This connecting rod isyieldingl-y constructed so that should any obstruction be met by theconveyer belt, the rod will be prevented from moving the rocking arm.The preferred construction of this connecting rod is shown in Fig. 2,and includes a tube 90, to which one end of the rod 89 is secured. Inthis tube there is a loosely fitting piston 91, se-

the rod 89, the other end of said rod 89 being pivoted to the rockingarm 87. In this tube there is a spiral spring 92, which bears at one'endupon said piston, and functions in an obvious manner.

In order --that the nuts to be cracked are properly centered between thecracking rains and the abutment plungers the engaging ends ofthese partsare countersunk or coneshapedl, as shown at 93 in Fig. 8, and at 94 inFig. 12; and in order'thatno parts of shells from the nuts may beretained in these cone shaped ends, knockouts are provided, as follows:The abutment plungers 22, as stated are tubular structures, and

at the ends of the screw shafts 70, 71,,there are formed extensions orrods 95, which when the plungers are'in retracted position, projectslightly beyond the ends of said plungers, as shown in Fig. 12. Thesescrew shafts do not move longitudinally, hence when they are rotated andthe plungers are moved outwardly, their ends will be within the bore ofthe plungers, and when returning, theends of the rods 95 will dislodgeany fragments of the nut-shells that may have located in thecountersinks 94.. The knockouts for the cracking rams comprise rods 96,secured at one end upon the table top 12 and passed through the bores ofthe rams 25 to project slightly beyond the ends thereof. The operationof these knockouts is substantially the same as the described operationof those of the abutment plungers so that a detailed description thereofis deemed superfluous.v

As hereinbefore stated, the Geneva gear pinion rotates the gear wheel Btogether with the feedwheel A; and this pinion is rotated by a sprocketwheel 96*, mounted on the pinion shaft 18, and connected to a sprocketwheel 97 mounted on the transverse shaft F, Figs. 1 and 7, by a linkbelt 98. The nuts to be cracked are carried forward by the conveyer beltH toward the feed wheel A; but in order to prevent too great anaccumulation of nuts adjacent to the pickup portion of said feed wheel,there is placed at the sides of this wheel and a suit able distanceabove the pulley 82, a transverse wall 100, which forms, as it were, adam. Whenever more nuts are conveyed forward than what the feed wheelcan take care of, the surplus nuts will pass over this dam and drop intochutes 101,'and out of the same into suitable receptacles, not shown,placed underneath the ends of said chutes, and from-which they may beremoved and returned to the trough by elevating mechanism of any desiredand approved construction, or in anyother convenient manner.

The cracked nuts are carried around by the feed wheel until they candrop off by gravity, into a chute 102. This chute includes two curvedside members 103, and an inclined bottom member 104,which chute conductsthe cracked nuts to a suitable receptacle, not shown, placed underneathsaid chute 102. This chute is secured in position 4 by braces 105, Fig.7, or -any other efficient required, before reaching the crackingmechanisms. I

It will be observed that by constructing and operating the abutmentplungers as described, that is to say, advancing them by means of feedscrews independently of springs, these abutment plungerscannot be pushedback when the cracking rams are operating upon the nuts and that theseabutment plungers are, in fact, positive stops or abutments, incontradistinction to nutcracking devices in which the plungers areadvanced by springs and held by clutch mechanism or friction to preventretraction, which mechanisms are not always positive locking means andare liable to slip or get out of order, especially when very hard nutsare being cracked. In our present device the springs 57 furnish, bycontraction, means only suflicient to rotate the screw shafts in onedirection'to advance the abutment plungers, said plungers beingretracted by mechanism entirely independent of said springs.

It will be further observed that each rack has its own spring andcontrols its own plunger independently of the other, which accounts forit that nuts of different lengths will be properly clamped between theabutment plungers and the cracking rams, and that they all receive thesame amountof pressure from the cracking rams when being cracked.

In the foregoing description we have disclosed, and in the drawings wehave shown two abutment plungers and two cracking rams, which are amplefor all practical purposes; but it is evident that a greater number ofthese sets of elements may be arranged in this machine if desired; orthat but one set may be installed where a somewhat cheaper machine is adesideratum.

In order that the 'antrifriction rollers 35 on the sliding block 23 maybear equally on the cams 32, adjustment is provided by screw threadingthe rods 33, as shown in Fig. 8 at 106, and entering these rods ininternally screw-threaded bores 107, in said slide 23, the manner ofmaking adjustment being by rotating the parts 33 in the properdirection.

For the purpose of providing for compensation for wear of the crackingrams and the abutment plungers at their operating ends, we provide thesemembers with removable heads 110, which heads are preferably made fromhardened steel, and held in position by screws, or other suitable meansnot shown, so that they may be readily removed and replaced when desiredor occasion demands. And in order that slack in the conveyer belt may betaken up automatically, we provide the trough G, G with an idler pulley111, having an axle journaled in links 112, pivoted to, and dependingfrom, the skirts 79, 79 and having a spring113, to pull the links towardthe skirts and thereby keep the conveyer bel't automatically taut.

Having thus fully described this invention, We claimas new and desire tosecure to us by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a machine forcracking nuts, the

combination, of a rotatable feed wheel constructed to receive the nutsto be cracked, mechanism for intermittently rotating said feed wheellocated at the side o-ft-he said feed wheel, cracking rams located atthe side of said feed wheel and constructed to ad- Vance by astep-by-step movement, abutment plungers located at the side of the feedwheel opposite the cracking rams and in alinement with the latter,screw-mechanism for advancing and retracting said abutment plungers, andmechanisms for advancing and retracting said cracking rams, saidscrew-mechanism including a crank and racks and gearing connectedthereto to move said screw mechanism in one direction, and spiralsprings constructed to move said racks and gearing inthe oppositedirection.

2. In a machine for cracking nuts, the combination, of a rotatable feedwheel having pockets in its periphery constructed to receive nuts to becracked, mechanism constructed to rotate said feed wheel by astepby-step movement, abutment plungers located at one side of said feedwheel, screwshafts constructed to advance and retract said abutmentplungers, cracking rams at the opposite side of said feed wheel andconstructed to coact with said plungers, means for rotating saidscrew-shafts in two opposing directions, and means for advancing thecracking rams by a step-by-step movement, said screw mechanism includinga rotatable shaft, a crank'on said shaft, racks, operated by said crankin one direction, gearing connecting said racks to said screw shafts,and springs constructed to move said racks in the opposite direction.

3. In a machine for cracking nuts, the combination, of a rotatable -feedwheel, pockets in the periphery of said feed Wheel constructed toreceive the nuts to be cracked, abutment plungers'at one side of saidfeed wheel against which said nuts are held, cracking rams at the otherside of-said feed wheel in alinement with said abutment plungers andcooperating therewith, means for advancing said abutment plungers, meansfor positively locking the said abutment plungers in advanced posit-ion,means for retracting said abutment plungers, means for imparting astep-by-step rotative movement to said feed wheeL'and means forimpart-ing a step-by-sbep advancing movement to said cracking rams, saidpositively locking means for the rams in this, advanced positionincluding rotatable screw shafts located in, and in screw-threadedengagement with, said plungers, and means for rotating said screw shaftsin two opposing directions.

4. A machine for cracking nuts, including, in combination, one or moreabutment plungers, a block wherein said abutment plungers arelongitudinally movable, said plungers being hollow bodies, a screw-shaftin each holplow body for advancing and retracting said plungers, a rackand gearing for each plunger, means .for moving each rack in onedirection independently of the other rack, and means for conjointlyretracting said racks to normal position.

5. In a machine for cracking nuts, one or more abutment plungers, ablock wherein said abutment plungers are longitudinally movable, saidplungers being tubular bodies, a shaft in each p unger in screw-threadedengagement therewith, a pinion on each shaft, a spur gear for eachpinion, a further pinion connected to each spur gear, a rack constructedto engage the latter pinion, a spring for, and connected to, each rackto pull the same in one direction by contraction, and means forretracting said racks and retensioning said springs.

6. In a machine for cracking nuts, an abutment plunger, a block whereinsaid plunger is longitudinally movable, said plunger being a tubularbody, a shaft having an externally screw-threaded part in screw-threadedengagement with said tubular body,.an extension on said shaft projectingbeyond the end of said tubular body when in retracted position, a pinionat the 1 other end of said shaft, a longitudinally movable rack, gearingconnecting said rack to said pinion, means for moving said rack in onedirection, and separate means for moving said rack in the other,opposing direction.

7. Ina machine for cracking nuts, the combination, of a rotatable feedwheel said feed wheel having in its periphery approximatelysemi-circular depressions, gear mechanism constructed to rotate saidfeed wheel by a step-by-step movement, an abutment plunger constructedto coact'with said feed wheel, screw-mechanism constructed to advanceand retract said plunger during the time that said feed wheel is atrest, a cracking ram constructed to advance toward said abutment plungerwhen at rest 1n projected position, mechanism for advancing saidcracking ram by a step-by-step movement, rack and pinion mechanism andgearing for rotating said screw-mechanism, and means for retracting saidabutment plunger and the cracking ram simultaneously but independentlyof each other.

8. In a machine for cracking nuts, the combination, of a rotatable feedwheel constructed to receive nuts to be cracked, mechanism attached tosaid feed wheel to impart an intermittent rotary movement thereto, meansfor urging said r'iuts toward said feed wheel by frictional contactwithout positively carrying said nuts to said feed wheel, a dam in frontof said feed wheel constructed to prevent overcrowding of nuts at thepickup portion thereof and to permit the surplus nuts to pass over theapex of said dam, chutes at the sides of said feed wheel constructed toreceive said surplus nuts and to convey them out of the machine, meansfor positioning nuts picked up by sa1d feed wheel, and means forcracking said nuts in said position.

9. In a machine for cracking nuts, an'

abutment plunger for positioning the nuts for cracking, said plungerbeing a cylindrical body, and means for moving .said pluner toward andfrom said nuts, said means lncluding a screw-threaded shaft constructedto engage said abutment plunger, a rack located below said screw shaft,gearing connecting said rack and said screw shaft to rotate the lattershaft, a spring connected to said rack, a sliding bar constructed toengage said rack, said sliding bar being pulled in one direction by saidrack and said spring, mechanism for moving said sliding bar in theopposite direction to normal position, means for locking the sliding barin normal position, and means for tripping the locking mechanism torelease the one side of said feed wheel, an abutment plunger located atthe opposite side of said feed Wheel in alinementwith said cracl n'ngram, and means for advancing and retracting said abutment plunger, thelatter means including a rack, gearing connecting said rack to saidplunger, a tensioned spring constructed to pull said rack in onedirection when relaxing, to advance said abutment plunger, a rotatingcrank, a sliding bar connected to said crank at one end and to said rackat its other end, a locking device constructed to lock said sliding barin normal position, means connected to said rotating crank constructedto trip said locking device when said cracking ram has made an advance,said sliding bar having. a plate wherewith said crank contacts, toretract said sliding bar, said rack, and retension said spring.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our-joint invention, we havehereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE C. SIEBERT. ANTON GERSTMAYR.

-Witnesses:

MICHAEL J. STARK, FRIEDA T. LEBERSTEIN.

